Miscreation Excerpt: Sailing into port

So June is a new month, and after three months of writing YA for YAB Bootcamp, I’m ready to move on to something a little different. I’ve mentioned that I was planning a new serial novel in the Wyld Magic world called The Voyage of the Miscreation. Well, I’ve moved from the planning to the writing stage now, and I’d like to share a little excerpt from the opening. To kick it off, we get a glimpse of the captain and her crew as they sail into port to meet the mage who is hiring them for a research expedition.

Mynta leaned against the ship’s railing and looked ahead at the crowded port, scanning for a glimpse of her very important client. The breeze ruffled through her short, dark hair. “Easy does it,” she called over the dock noise. “Wouldn’t want to scrape the fresh paint off one of these big, fancy merchant ships.”

Beside her, Yermolai let out a smug laugh. Propping himself up against the custom brace set before the wheel, he steered the ship expertly. Under his touch, the Miscreation maneuvered between the larger vessels to their assigned position near the far side of the dock.

Before today, Mynta had answered to no one but her crew, enjoying the freedom of the open seas. The retired mercenary made a living off killing monsters for whomever had the gold to pay for her services. But the person waiting in Kyratia City would end that. Although the ship barely made a sound as it nosed up against the wooden dock, to Mynta, it echoed like a judge’s gavel, sealing her sentence to serving another. However, she wouldn’t let her feelings show: she joked and smiled as if this were a job like any other.

I’m still very excited to write this story and send these new characters on some wild adventures. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. And interestingly enough, I think I have a writing partner in my own family who is joining me while I work on this. It’s her first novel, and what she writes is very different from me, but I think it could be fun for us both to just hang out and write together. Nothing like company to encourage me to keep working!

Right now, there’s no definite schedule for when I’m publishing this serial. I’ll finish the first episode and maybe the second, then look at how long it takes me to complete one. I hope to post them about once a month for at least six months, so I’ve got to get a schedule that I’m comfortable with, and plan in time for things like family vacations coming up this summer.